- The Crisafulli Government is investing another $49.5 million to help 5,600 Queenslanders receive vital elective surgeries sooner.
- The funding increase builds on the record $1.75 billion the Crisafulli Government is investing in elective surgery over the next four years.
- Already, strategies put in place by the Crisafulli Government have seen the elective surgery waiting list reduced by more than seven per cent in one year.
The Crisafulli Government is delivering on its promise to restore health services when you need them, enabling thousands more Queenslanders to receive life-changing surgeries sooner thanks to a $49.5 million statewide funding boost to help target elective surgery waitlists.
The boost means Queenslanders waiting for procedures in high-demand specialties such as ophthalmology, ear, nose and throat, urology, and orthopaedics will have their treatment, and improved quality of life, much sooner.
This investment will be delivered through the successful Surgery Connect program and by local Hospital and Health Services across the state.
After a decade of decline, this investment is just one of the ways the Crisafulli Government is healing Labor's Health Crisis, including increased funding to the successful Surgery Connect program which also allows more surgeries to be performed faster through referrals to private hospitals at no cost to the patient.
Since July, more than 13,142 patients have received surgery through Surgery Connect, a 131 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Tim Nicholls said the Crisafulli Government was determined to get more Queenslanders off the elective surgery waitlist, after it ballooned year-on-year under Labor.
"Waitlists are not just figures on a piece of paper, they represent everyday Queenslanders who need procedures and surgeries to improve their lives, or in many cases, to save their lives," Minister Nicholls said.
"This new funding will deliver an estimated 5,600 more procedures, of which 4,300 will be through the Surgery Connect Program.
"That means more Queenslanders will receive the vital care they need sooner, including having their cataracts treated, hips or knees replaced, or tonsils or adenoids removed.
"These surgeries can be lifechanging and allow people to get back to doing everyday things that are so important, like playing with their kids or grandkids or walking the dog."
The funding boost adds to the record $1.75 billion already committed to elective surgery over four years, with strategies initiated in 2025 already having reduced the waiting list by more than seven per cent in one year.
